Weight and exercise in pregnancy - help!

[Mirry71]

I hardly put on any weight at all for the first 15 weeks or so, then in the last nine I've put on about 8.5-9kg (around 18lb I think). If it keeps on going on like this I won't be able to get out of the door to get to the labour ward - feel v down...I am the sort of person who puts on weight very easily (two reasons - a) have PCOS b) greedy) and had lost a lot of weight before I got pregnant so may be more sensitive about this.
Anyway can anyone suggest how I can stop the weight gain continuing at this rate - I read somewhere that it should be 1lb a week and I'm doing double that; someone also told me at the weekend that there are risks to the baby and your own health if you go over about 2.75 stones so this is not just vanity.
I'm not looking to diet, will try to be more sensible in what I eat, but also wondering about exercise. I walk to work (slowly) 3x a week which is 2.5 miles and try to do some walking over the weekend. I have also bought a yoga DVD. But what else would you suggest and how much more should I do. What have you found helpful?
Yours looking miserably at the celery stick

Hi Mirry, poor you. Don't stress too much about it, 18lb is probably about normal for half way through the pregnancy. I would try and go to aquanatal classes, try to avoid binging esp high sat fat food ie crisps and chocolate.

You will lose the weight quite easily afterwards as long as you don't go totally overboard. Try and relax and enjoy your pregnancy.

Mirry - dont worry about it, everyone's body reacts differently to pregnancy. I ate healthily, exercised well (gym three times a week, Personal trainer session and antenatal yoga twice a week) when pregnant with DS and put on 3 and a half stone. He was a healthy 9lb baby and all was fine (in fact the fact he was so big helped him with a rather traumatic delivery).

This time round am 25 weeks and have just put on 1 stone but am bigger than I was at this stage last time round with DS.

Try to eat a balanced diet, the walking is a great exercise (try antenatal yoga or pilates class or dvd if you want to vary it up abit) and dont worry about weight gain too much - you lose alot of it through the birth process, and your baby will be just fine.

Walk wherever you can. Take up yoga. Fit in a couple of swims. When you're hungry eat, but make healthy choices if you can.
I also wouldn't pay too much attention to the "advice". Everyone's different and it'll only get you down.
FWIW I'm pg a third time (18 weeks - currently 20 pounds heavier than start). I put on 14-21 pounds in all three in the first trimester. With pg nr1 I then put on a further 35 pounds and with pg nr2 a further 14. So quite different. With both previous pgs my weight then stablilised in the last trimester and I lost a bit in the last couple of weeks.
After the first two I did lose the weight again in the end.

I think 18lbs is about right for midway through pregnancy - I keep getting told off by my midwife for not putting enough weight on. 5lbs @ 26weeks
I am a Fitness Instructor so I still have to do all my classes, but its upsetting me that I am not gaining properly.

It just goes to show that everyone is different - I really wouldnt worry about the weight you are gaining.
Just as long as you keep active, swimming is great in pregnancy, walking to raise the Heart rate.
Upper body toning exercises...use bean cans etc...
Try out a post natal pilates dvd - Ive heard great things about them.

I wouldn't stress it sounds normal to me. I am sure that your weight gain won't continue at the same weight, I know mine has definitely gone through phases.

I think I have put on about 24-28lbs at 34 weeks. From seeing healthy friends have babies I know a lot of them put on about 3 stone in their pregnancies and lost it ok and didn't have any problems. So I wouldnt' worry so much.

Exercise-wise, I have done cycling, swimming, walking and yoga. I don't think yoga is likely to be very "calorie-burning" if you know what I mean, but it makes me feel great, so I love it, particularly as I have got further on and aerobic exercise has got more tiring.

I personally think that if you want to minimize weight gain then watching what you eat is more important than exercise (unless you can fit in time and feel well enough to do lots and lots of exercise). e.g. if you do half an hour of exercise 5 times a week you are probably only burning 250 calories a time at a guess, which is not THAT much. But obviously exercise is important for health, stamina, etc, so try to do that too.

Basically I would really not worry about it as you sound normal to me, and you are making an effort to exercise which is more than a lot of pg ladies do!

By the way when I say "watching what you eat" I don't mean dieting, just subsituting naughty treats for something else when you are hungry now and again (but still having the naughty treats occasionally of course)

At 30 weeks I have put on 24 lbs. Most of this came in the first 5 months. Now the weight wont go up but my babies are are putting on weight fine. Basically a lot of women are not able to eat much in the third trimester so the weight stays more or less constant...As for exercise, I did weights until 25 weeks and now only exercise my fingers on mumsnet , may be a walk whenever I visit my doctor. Don't worry too much you will be fine.

By the way I also put on weight easily so I am not one of those naturally skinny ones.

At 30 weeks I have put on 24 lbs. Most of this came in the first 5 months. Now the weight wont go up but my babies are are putting on weight fine. Basically a lot of women are not able to eat much in the third trimester so the weight stays more or less constant...As for exercise, I did weights until 25 weeks and now only exercise my fingers on mumsnet , may be a walk whenever I visit my doctor. Don't worry too much you will be fine.

By the way I also put on weight easily so I am not one of those naturally skinny ones.

Thank you for all those. I think I was just in a panic because the last nine weeks have seen such a rapid increase....and I used to do a lot of running and stuff before I got pg which used to help with my weight. I think I was just worried that between now and 40 weeks it was going to keep on increasing at this rate but see from all your experiences that seems to be phases of weight gain people go through. Maybe this has just been a big spurt. Will move away from the Dairy Milk Turkish Delight though.....Sigh
I have tried to keep up exercise - but mainly because I am terrified about the birth (another story...) and read somewher e it could be slightly easier if had kept up some exercise!!

Mirry71 - Thats exactly why im still going with the exercise!!!
Lets hope what ive read is true

Mirry - keeping up with the exercise helps with your stamina, and also helps you identify different areas of your body (like pelvic floor) which all comes in very handy for the pushing stage. If you are worried aobut the birth, really would advise trying pregnancy yoga as will help with visualisation and breathing exercises which you can use in labour to control the fear. Best of luck.

mirry if you've gained 18lb over 24 weeks (I think that's how far on you are?) then that's less than a lb a week so far overall so no need to worry at all. My weight seemed to follow your pattern, nothing in the first trimester and then a sudden gain in the second (I'm 33 weeks now), in the last month I didn't gain an ounce again, but this week it's shot up all over again - I'm sure your's will be just at erratic. Don't forget that quite a bit of that extra weight is baby, fluid, placenta, boob growth etc that is essential - in fact in my head I still weigh less than 10 stone, plus essential baby baggage that shouldn't even be counted - just like not counting the weight of the changing bag you'll be lugging around after it's born! Enjoy your pregnancy